My Wife’s Migraines Vanished After Psilocybin: Here’s Our Story

This is part of a series of reflections by Paul Sinclair, one of the managing directors of Mind Matters. Drawing on his experience in high-pressure environments and his training with Dr Gabor Maté, Paul writes with unflinching honesty about the patterns he sees in his work with clients and in his own life. In this piece, he explores how psychedelics (especially psilocybin) may offer hope for those struggling with anxiety.

Migraines are more than just bad headaches – they can be debilitating, whole-body experiences. Sufferers often endure throbbing head pain, nausea, and extreme sensitivity to light and sound.

Traditional treatments help many people, yet some migraines remain stubbornly chronic. As a plant medicine therapist and founder of Mind Matters, I’ve followed emerging research with hope.

One particularly intriguing avenue is psilocybin, the psychedelic compound in “magic mushrooms”, which is now being studied as a promising migraine treatment. This article will explore recent clinical studies (including Phase 2 trials and ongoing research) on psilocybin for migraines. I’ll share a very personal case study: my wife Nadine’s journey from chronic migraines to lasting relief after a psilocybin-assisted therapy.

Table Of Contents:

• A Case Study in Migraine Recovery: Nadine’s Story
• A Psilocybin Retreat in the Netherlands
• The (Unexpected) Migraine-Free Outcome
• The Neuroscience and Biology of Migraines
• Clinical Trials: What the Research Says So Far
• My Professional Reflection as a plant medicine healer

A Case Study in Migraine Recovery: Nadine’s Story

Nadine suffered from severe chronic migraines linked to her menstrual cycle, a form often called menstrual migraine. These attacks struck with brutal regularity around her periods. The pain was extreme – a pulsating agony that could last for days, sending her to our bedroom, curtains drawn, all light and sound shut out. Nausea often accompanied it, sometimes to the point of vomiting. The migraines became so severe that on a few occasions, I had to take her to the emergency room. The doctors told us they couldn’t even be sure whether it was a migraine or a stroke – that’s how intense and frightening her symptoms were. As you can imagine, this caused us both an enormous amount of anxiety and emotional pain, especially in the days leading up to the peak of her menstrual cycle.

A Psilocybin Retreat in the Netherlands

Two years ago, Nadine decided to attend a psychedelic-assisted therapy retreat in the Netherlands. It was a week-long immersive retreat designed for deep emotional healing using psilocybin truffles. She had no access to her phone or any electronics. It was a complete digital detox, allowing her to immerse herself in the experience and the setting fully. She called me from Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands when the retreat ended. I’ll never forget that call. I asked her how it had gone, fully expecting to hear about the typical visuals or psychedelic effects that many people report – the sacred geometry, the colours, the fractals, the mystical, magical layers of experience I had encountered in my journey. But she said none of that had happened.

Instead, she told me it had been a very challenging experience. She didn’t see any visuals, no mystical patterns, nothing like that. What she did feel was a deep wave of emotional intensity. She said something I’ll never forget – she couldn’t even tell whether the emotions she felt were hers or belonged to the other people in the room. That stuck with me. I know what that means. Having extensively studied psilocybin and its interaction with migraines, I understood what might have been happening.

The (Unexpected) Migraine-Free Outcome

What Nadine didn’t know at the time – because I hadn’t told her – was that there is a growing body of scientific and clinical research that shows psilocybin may have powerful, lasting effects on people with chronic migraines. I’d come across studies showing not only did people feel better after their psilocybin experience, but in many cases, their migraines disappeared entirely. I didn’t say anything to her about that before she left for the retreat, because I didn’t want to plant a seed or create expectations. I just wanted her to have her own journey.

And here’s the extraordinary part: since that retreat, Nadine has not had a single migraine. Not one. This is someone who suffered, every single month, often requiring silence, darkness, and even medical intervention. Someone whose migraines were so intense that they left us both emotionally wrecked for days. And for two years now, that cycle has stopped. Her period still comes, but the pain, the sickness, the darkness – it’s all gone.

It wasn’t the visual trip people often talk about. It wasn’t an easy experience. But it was, undeniably, a healing one. I believe that the ceremony, the environment, the psilocybin itself, and the emotional work she did there shifted something fundamental – whether neurological, hormonal, emotional, or all of the above. Her body no longer goes into that same painful shutdown every month. The transformation has been total.

This isn’t just a case of symptom management. It’s not like the migraines got a bit easier. They’ve gone. And we didn’t change anything else. Her diet, her habits, her sleep – all stayed the same. The only variable that changed was the retreat. The only intervention was psilocybin.

And I’ve seen this before. In my work at Mind Matters, I’ve supported others on similar journeys. Nadine’s story is powerful, yes – but it’s not an anomaly. I’ve witnessed others heal from years of chronic migraines after engaging with these medicines in a safe and therapeutic context. This isn’t a one-off. It’s a pattern that deserves serious attention.

The Neuroscience and Biology of Migraines

Migraines are a complex neurological disorder involving various factors, including genetics, hormonal fluctuations, neurovascular processes, and the central nervous system’s pain regulation mechanisms. Traditionally, migraines were thought to stem primarily from the dilation and constriction of blood vessels in the brain. However, contemporary research points more clearly to neurological dysfunction involving the brainstem, cortical spreading depression, and particularly the role of serotonin.

Serotonin (5-HT) plays a key role in the modulation of mood, pain perception, and vascular tone. During a migraine attack, there is evidence of fluctuating serotonin levels, particularly in the brainstem regions. Many of the current migraine medications, such as triptans, work by targeting serotonin receptors (especially 5-HT1B and 5-HT1D) to narrow blood vessels and inhibit pain pathways.

Psilocybin, once ingested, converts into psilocin, which acts on the 5-HT2A receptor – the same system involved in both migraines and emotional processing. This interaction could explain why psilocybin may help to “reset” the neurological pathways that contribute to chronic migraines. The precise mechanism is still under investigation, but it may involve the regulation of thalamic gating, reduced neuroinflammation, improved neural plasticity, and a dampening of hyperactive pain circuits.

Clinical Trials: What the Research Says So Far

In 2021, researchers at Yale University conducted one of the first placebo-controlled trials examining psilocybin for migraines. In this Phase 1 study, participants received a single low dose of psilocybin (0.143 mg/kg), and were tracked over two weeks. The results were promising: participants experienced fewer migraine days, less pain intensity, and reduced functional impairment compared to placebo. It’s important to note that the absence of migraines beyond the two-week period wasn’t due to a return of symptoms – rather, the study only monitored participants for two weeks. The long-term effects weren’t captured because the observation period ended there. Importantly, the researchers noted that this did not appear to be linked to the strength or presence of psychedelic effects, suggesting the anti-migraine benefit might be independent of the subjective trip.

Another ongoing study is taking this further. Dr Emmanuelle Schindler and her team at Yale are now conducting Phase 2 trials and mechanistic studies on both cluster headaches and migraines. These trials explore patient outcomes and how psilocybin affects the brain’s functional connectivity, inflammation markers, and circadian rhythms using neuroimaging and blood analysis.

Initial results from these ongoing studies point towards meaningful changes in the brain’s pain modulation networks. Another pilot study looking at cluster headaches used a ‘pulse dosing’ approach – three sessions of low-dose psilocybin spaced over several days. Most participants experienced a significant reduction in headache frequency and severity for weeks following the final dose.

My Professional Reflection as a plant medicine healer

As someone who has been immersed in the world of plant medicine for years, I have witnessed countless stories of healing. But Nadine’s experience brought it all home. It was no longer abstract or clinical. It was real. It was personal.

I’ve always believed in the power of these medicines to reach parts of the psyche – and the nervous system – that conventional therapies often can’t. But when I saw the way her body responded to the psilocybin retreat, it confirmed a growing truth for me: that these medicines don’t just offer spiritual insight – they offer physiological transformation.

This work isn’t about escapism or recreational highs. It’s about grounded, intentional healing. It’s about creating safe containers where people can explore the roots of their pain, whether emotional, neurological, or energetic. I’ve seen how these sessions open doors for people who felt stuck for years. And I’ve seen how they can complement, and sometimes even surpass, traditional clinical treatments.

There is a distinct possibility that psilocybin is a magic bullet for migraines. It is a profound tool that deserves our attention, respect, and continued research. And most of all, it deserves to be seen through the lens of care, connection, and potential. Not just as a molecule, but as a mirror that reflects what’s ready to be healed, if we’re brave enough to look

Disclaimer:

The content provided in this article series by Mind Matters is for informational and educational purposes only and does not substitute professional medical advice or consultation with healthcare professionals. If you are seeking medical advice, diagnoses, or treatment, we advise you to consult a licensed medical professional or healthcare provider. Psychedelic-assisted therapy is not legalised in Malta; therefore, our services in Malta focus solely on preparation and integration. We do facilitate psychedelic-assisted therapy in collaboration with licensed therapists in jurisdictions where it is legal. We do not provide or facilitate the use of illegal substances. Please check the legal status of psychedelic substances in your jurisdiction, as legal frameworks are continuously evolving.